A Brief Overview on the IOLTA Arizona Program

The state of Arizona, together with the rest of the other states in the US, as well as the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia, operates an Interest on Lawyers Trust Account program. More commonly referred to simply as IOLTA Arizona, this innovative and unique program is designed to help both individuals as well as whole families by providing them with a greater access to justice. The Arizona IOLTA, which is governed by the Supreme Court of the state, also helps improve the overall justice system.

A lawyer trust account is where the money of clients being held by lawyers are placed or deposited into. Lawyers usually hold two separate types of funds in these trust accounts. The first type of fund is the money that was paid to them in advance of a service that they have not provided to the client yet. The other type of fund that are usually held by lawyers is the money that the client owe to a third party. Lawyers place these funds into an account which is referred to as the Interest on Lawyers Trust Account, or IOLTA.

In accordance to the Rule 43 of the Arizona Supreme Court Law, all of the interests that will be earned on any of the IOLTA accounts should be entrusted to the non-profit organization Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education. This non-profit organization was established to improve the education about the state's justice system as well as to improve the overall justice system.

Today, the IOLTA Arizona Program was already able to generate over $2 billion for people who are in need of legal assistance and services. Aside from this, the Arizona IOLTA was also able to provide education to more than 300,000 children on their rights and their responsibilities as the citizens of the state.